What to Watch in North Africa This December

This streaming and cinema guide is for those who don’t like to spend their holidays watching endless Christmas movies.

Farah El Fassi, aka Noura, sits at a table gambling with a group of men, wearing a black blouse and appearing deep in thought.

In her latest film, Moroccan director Rachida Saadi thematizes the destructive complexity of having a gambling addiction as a woman in Morocco.

Screenshot taken from QUITTE OU DOUBLE BA EN SUBS H264 on YouTube.

Unlike other parts of the continent, December is not a particularly festive time in North Africa. While Coptic Christmas is celebrated on January 7 in Egypt, there are no Egyptian Christmas movies — a cultural gap that begs to be filled.

Film festival season is still in swing in Marrakesh, Ismailia, or by the Red Sea, but there seems to be an end-of-the-year desire to watch comedy and action films, rather than documentaries and socio-political commentary.

This month’s streaming and cinema guide has a bit of everything: Egyptian comedies and thrillers paired with a Moroccan history dive and a women-led exploration of addiction.

'Echoes of the Past' (Egypt)

Directed by Al Sadeer Massoud and written by Mohamed el Masry, the limited eight-episode series Echoes of the Past follows the emotional and psychological turmoil of Yehia, played by renowned Egyptian actor Asser Yassin. After Yehia is wrongfully accused of his sister Nadia’s murder, he serves a 15-year prison sentence. Once released, he embarks on a quest for vengeance to find the actual perpetrator.

Where to watch: Netflix starting December 6

'A Story of Loyalty' (Morocco)

Moroccan director Ali Al-Tahiri’s new feature film A Story of Loyalty dramatizes the kidnappings of Moroccans by the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi nationalist liberation movement seeking to establish an independent Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Set in one of the Tindouf camps — Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria — the film revolves around the character of Majd, a young man with special needs, who dreams of marrying Wafaa, who works as an assistant in a horse shop.

Where to watch: Moroccan cinemas

'El Hana El Ana Feeh' (Egypt)

Marriage counselor Ahmed, played by Karim Mahmoud Abdelaziz, is heartbroken when his wife Eman, played by Yasmin Raeis, receives a fatal diagnosis from her doctor. Eman makes a plan to ensure that her daughter is not left without a loving mother and asks Ahmed to marry her attractive best friend Fawzeya, played by Dina El-Sherbiny. Comedic events unfold when Eman realizes that her diagnosis might not be as devastating only after Ahmed and Fawzeya have already married and are beginning to like each other.

Where to watch: Egyptian cinemas starting December 19

'Quitte ou Double' (Morocco)

Quitte ou Double by Moroccan director, producer and owner of Casablanca-based production house Bentaqerla, Rachida Saadi, is now screening in Moroccan theaters after winning the grand prize at the International Film Festival in Guevara, Cuba earlier this year. The film stars Farah El Fassi as Noura, a young woman with a gambling addiction. She tries to get her life together by marrying Mahdi, but their relationship begins to falter when she relapses.

Where to watch: Moroccan cinemas

'The Spider' (Egypt)

Directed by Ahmed Nader Galal, this action mystery drama starring Mona Zaki and Ahmed el-Sakka tells the story of an armed vigilante known as “The Spider.” He is willing to do anything to stop a dangerous drug dealer who has figured out how to manufacture new drugs, but things get complicated when a tour guide is mistakenly implicated in his mission.

Where to watch: Netflix and Shahid

'Black Dot' (Egypt)

Across the region, viewers are tuning in to Black Dot, an action-filled thriller series surrounding the siblings Radwa and Salah who devise a plan to take revenge on the Elsiofy clan. This powerful family has made enemies while building an empire. Cousins Omar and Ali Elsiofy must protect their family, but events take a turn when one falls in love with Radwa despite the raging feud. Directed by Mohamed Osama.

Where to watch: Shahid

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